New Delhi: Days after a go ahead from the Supreme Court paved way for the trial in the 2015 sacrilege cases against Gurmeet Ram Rahim, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday approved the prosecution of the Dera Sacha Sauda chief.
The Punjab government’s directive comes after a SC bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Vishwanathan lifted the stay by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the trial. The bench had also directed Ram Rahim to file his response in the case.
Dera chief gets four weeks to respond to SC notice
Responding to the notice, Dera Sacha Sauda chief’s advocate said they will file a reply to the SC notice. The SC has sought Dera chief’s response within four weeks, while noting that the matter requires scrutiny.
“Supreme Court has now issued notice to us and we will file our reply in SC, we have faith that we will get justice…Prosecution permission is only a legal procedure. It has done not just in our case but many cases,” said advocate Jitendra Khurana representing Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh
Kurana said Dera Sacha Sauda condemns the incident of sacrilege, and also urge the government that the real culprits should be punished.
The apex court on Friday last week had passed the order on a plea of the Punjab government challenging the order of the high court.
What are 2015 2015 sacrilege cases?
Three alleged incidents of sacrilege of holy Guru Granth Sahib happened between June and October, 2015, in Faridkot district of Punjab and an FIR was lodged on June 2, 2015 at a local police station.
In 2015, the state government had given its consent to transfer the probe of the three incidents to the CBI. However, the consent for transfer of the probe of the sacrilege cases and police firing incidents was withdrawn on September 6, 2018.
